Chapter 117 - 114: Fur Ball

Chapter 117: Chapter 114: Fur Ball

"I suggest we travel horizontally, from east to west."

"That way, it’ll only take four or five passes to complete this map clearly."

"No, no, I think we should go vertically, from north to south. That way, we can reduce the time we spend at the edge of the Lost Basin."

"That makes sense... but if we go back and forth from north to south, we might miss this high point."

"But it’s safer, isn’t it?"

"That may be so..."

The scorching midday sun baked the forest. The air was muggy and still, and the sacred-looking beams of light seemed frozen in place. Only when a bird occasionally flitted by would a shimmering ripple disturb them.

After lunch, Lu Wei and the other three sat around a rock, looking at the map and discussing exactly how to fill in its blank sections.

Furen and Mirana were in a heated debate, their opinions clearly differing, and for the moment, neither could persuade the other.

Bai Ya would also chime in with her own opinion from time to time.

Only Lu Wei remained silent.

He seemed to be pondering some momentous issue.

’No, wait, why does everyone seem so serious?’

’A recon mission like this doesn’t have any clear metrics or standards...’

’So shouldn’t we be discussing how to half-ass it right now???’

’Why are they actually discussing "how to complete the mission with both quality and quantity"???’

’Could it be that I slacked off too much in my previous life, and now my work ethic is all screwed up???’

"Um, if I could interrupt for a second..."

After holding it in for a long time, Lu Wei really couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up tentatively.

"What if—and I’m just saying what if—there’s a possibility that we don’t have to go into the mission area at all? Or maybe we just pop in for a quick look around? Would that work?"

"What do you mean?"

Furen was taken aback. "If we just take a quick look around, how are we supposed to draw the map?"

"We could just sketch out the basic terrain. Finding a high point and taking a look should be good enough, right?"

"We could get a rough sketch that way, but rivers, valleys, and other special terrain features would be hidden by the forest. We wouldn’t be able to spot them without getting a closer look, would we?"

"Uh, is that really a hard problem to solve?"

Lu Wei was utterly bewildered. "Can’t we just wing it? It’s not like the Adventurer Association can verify if it’s real or fake anyway."

"Huh? Wing it?"

Hearing this, both Furen and Bai Ya looked completely baffled, clearly not understanding what "winging it" meant.

Only Mirana’s eyes suddenly widened in astonishment, as if she were shocked by such a brilliant solution.

’You can do that...?’

’That’s a method I’d never even considered before...’

"But the Adventurer Association has an accountability system."

After a moment of thought, Mirana reminded him seriously, "If you complete a request through deceit and are found out later, you will be held responsible."

"The penalty is usually three to five times the mission reward. In serious cases, you can be banned from accepting requests, or even expelled from the Association."

’Huh? They have a rule like that?’

Lu Wei paused for a second. He genuinely hadn’t known about that.

However, he shrugged and joked, "No big deal. You accepted this mission under your name, so even if they come after someone, it won’t be us."

But unexpectedly, Mirana didn’t seem to realize it was a joke, nor did she get angry or upset about it.

She just thought for another moment, then nodded silently.

"That’s true. Since it won’t affect any of you, I suppose we could give it a try."

Huh?

’She agreed?’

His mouth fell slightly agape. Now it was Lu Wei’s turn to be surprised.

He truly hadn’t expected his "despicable" suggestion to get Mirana’s approval.

’And Furen and Bai Ya haven’t objected either. This is very wrong.’

’Have the three of them been possessed by a Demon?’

Frowning, Lu Wei’s gaze suddenly grew wary.

But in the next second, Furen and Bai Ya’s voices rang out.

"No way! I disagree!"

"Mhm, we can’t do that!"

"..."

’Okay, good, they’re not possessed by a Demon. Mirana’s just morally corrupt.’

...

...

「Half an hour later.」

After a heated and reasoned discussion, the "Honesty Faction" and the "Slacking Faction" finally reached an agreement, settling on a compromise.

They would follow a route along the western side of the area, heading south all the way, climbing the two marked high points on the map en route to the edge of the Lost Basin.

Then, they would head east, moving to the eastern side of the region.

Finally, they would return by taking a route north along the eastern side.

It was roughly a "U" shape.

This way, they should be able to observe most of the terrain in the entire area.

It was also relatively time-efficient, ensuring they could return to town before the mission deadline.

As for the "details" they wouldn’t have time to explore... both sides temporarily agreed to put that on hold.

They would first draw the terrain they observed, and then, at the end, discuss whether or not to make "additions based on inference and imagination."

"Alright, then. Let’s pack up and get ready to go."

Putting away the map, Lu Wei stood up. "It’s only noon. We should be able to reach the first high point before nightfall."

"Okay."

Furen and the other two agreed, quickly packed their bags, and left the Stone Language Ruins, officially entering the mission area to the southwest.

As for the little bit of leftover "grouse, cheese, and white tree mushroom stew" from lunch, Bai Ya poured it out next to a bush.

"CHIRP, CHIRP~"

A few small birds flew down from the branches, took a few shallow pecks, and then flew away in distaste.

It seemed human food wasn’t quite to their taste.

But about ten minutes later, with a soft RUSTLE, a green, fluffy thing suddenly wriggled out of the bushes.

It was about the size of a basketball, with a perfectly round body. Two large, sparkling eyes glinted from within its soft, smooth fur.

It was clearly a monster.

However, the *Gelan Forest Adventurer’s Manual* had no record of it.

It wasn’t because the thing was rare... well, from a certain perspective, it was indeed rare.

This was because the monster—with the scientific name "Shivering Monster" and commonly known as "Fur Ball" or "Puruu"—was simply too weak.

Although it was widespread across all Adventurer’s Lands, its timid nature, strange method of reproduction, and low combat strength made its survival extremely difficult.

The place Adventurers were most likely to see them was in a goblin’s lair.

Some goblins would use their corpses as pillows.

Other than that, they were hard to encounter.

That’s why the *Adventurer’s Manual* didn’t record this completely non-threatening yet very rare monster.

At this moment, the Fur Ball emerged from the bushes and eagerly plunged headfirst into the now-cold soup on the ground.

Then, it began to make a series of seemingly very excited grunts.

"RURURU~"

"RURURURU~"

At first, it sounded a bit like a happily snorting pig.

Or maybe a kettle boiling.

In short, it didn’t seem very bright.

The soup on the ground began to vanish at a visible rate, as if being absorbed by a dry towel. Even the few pieces of grouse meat quickly and magically disappeared.

"PURUU~"

A moment later, the Fur Ball rolled over, lay on its back, and basked contentedly in the sun for a while.

Then, it wobbled back to its feet and hopped away on short legs almost completely hidden in its fluff, chasing after the direction Lu Wei and the others had gone.